Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to testify Wednesday earlier than the Republican-led Home International Affairs Committee, which has lengthy sought to query him over the lethal evacuation from Afghanistan.
Blinken’s testimony comes almost three months after the committee voted alongside partly strains to advocate that the nation’s prime diplomat be held in contempt of Congress amid a standoff over his look earlier than the panel to debate its investigation into the 2021 withdrawal.
The committee and State Division had been at odds for months, main Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman, to concern a number of subpoenas for Blinken to testify in September. McCaul stated Blinken’s look was vital because the committee considers “potential laws geared toward serving to forestall the catastrophic errors of the withdrawal.”
Republicans on the committee launched a prolonged report in September that detailed their yearslong investigation into the chaotic exit from Afghanistan and accused the Biden administration of deceptive the general public concerning the finish of the 20-year battle.
Throughout its investigation, the committee carried out 18 transcribed interviews with Biden administration officers and acquired greater than 20,000 pages of paperwork from the State Division, a few of which have been obtained by way of subpoenas. Blinken was not amongst those that testified for the report, however the State Division famous amid the standoff with the committee that he has testified to Congress on Afghanistan greater than 14 occasions.
The report accused President Biden and his administration of ignoring repeated warnings from navy officers, nationwide safety advisers and U.S. allies concerning the dangers of eradicating all American forces from Afghanistan, saying Mr. Biden “prioritized politics and his private legacy over America’s nationwide safety pursuits.”
Blinken was amongst these faulted within the report, which stated he “remained largely absent all through the State Division’s withdrawal planning” and the evacuation.
“Certainly, witnesses interviewed, and paperwork produced by federal companies pursuant to the investigation, verify Secretary Blinken doubtless ceded his duty to subordinates on Afghanistan,” the report stated.
Blinken advocated for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to stay open whatever the navy withdrawal, in accordance with the report, which stated that the need to keep up a diplomatic presence contributed to the State Division’s “lack of urgency and their delays in planning for the worst-case eventualities.”
The report additionally famous that diplomatic officers on the bottom expressed considerations concerning the dedication to maintain the embassy open regardless of the deteriorating state of affairs in Afghanistan, culminating in a July 2021 dissent cable warning that Kabul would fall after the deliberate withdrawal. Two weeks earlier than the U.S. troops left Afghanistan, State Division leaders agreed to shutter the embassy, the report stated.
Republicans threatened to carry Blinken in contempt of Congress in 2023 as they sought to overview the labeled dissent cable. The State Division finally allowed lawmakers to view {a partially} redacted model.
Democrats on the Home International Affairs Committee accused Republicans of politicizing the withdrawal and stated the bulk took “explicit pains to keep away from information involving former President Donald Trump.”
Final 12 months, the White Home launched its personal 12-page abstract of a labeled overview of the Afghanistan exit that largely blamed the Trump administration for a deal it struck with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. forces from the nation by Could 2021. The deal, generally known as the Doha Settlement, laid out a sequence of circumstances for the Taliban to meet to ensure that U.S. forces to totally go away Afghanistan. One other report partially declassified and launched by the State Division final 12 months faulted each the Trump and Biden administrations for “inadequate” planning surrounding the withdrawal.
